Phil Dunphy would make a terrible UX designer.

Not because he has bad ideas.

Because he’d fall in love with them.

And designers can do exactly the same thing.

You have an idea.

You sketch it.

You refine it.

You prototype it.

Then suddenly…

You start defending it.

That’s when confirmation bias can creep in.

You notice the feedback that supports your solution.

You notice research that agrees with you.

You notice metrics that make the design look good.

And you start dismissing anything that challenges it.

But remember:

Your assumption is not evidence.

“We think users want this” is a hypothesis.

It isn’t a finding, a requirement, or a reason to ship.

Investigate. Don’t validate.

A better approach is simple:

Research to learn. Not to validate.

Instead of starting with:

“How do we prove our solution works?”

Ask:

“What do we need to learn before deciding?”

And before defending your design, ask yourself:

→ What are we assuming?
→ What evidence supports it?
→ What evidence contradicts it?
→ What alternative explanation could exist?
→ What would make us change the design?

If you can’t answer that final question, take a step back.

You may be defending the solution rather than investigating the problem.

Stay loyal to the problem

What happens when research tells you that the design you love isn’t the right solution?

Defend it?

Iterate it?

Let it go?

The best designers aren’t loyal to their solutions.

They’re loyal to the problem.

Research should be allowed to change your mind.

That’s not weakness.

That’s good UX.

Save this before you get too attached to your next idea.

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